


Drive Me Sane

by QueenStilinski



Category: DC Animated Universe, DC Cinematic Universe, DCU, Suicide Squad (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-08-18 14:55:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8165842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenStilinski/pseuds/QueenStilinski
Summary: Thank you to my lovely boyfriend Alistair for gettin me to fINALLY write this.





	1. I Lost My Puddin

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my lovely boyfriend Alistair for gettin me to fINALLY write this.

At first, things felt like they were moving at the speed of sound, but now? Now that this gorgeous, out of earth lady was stood before her, body moving in ways that only beckoned Harley closer, things felt like they came to a dead stop. Just moments before, this woman had shown her a life that she.. She longed for. A normal life with her Puddin, with two little babies, a good life. A normal one.  _Normal._ She was never normal, and Diablo had told them all that, they weren't  _meant_ for normal and they weren't  _cut out_ for that life style and those things were  _dead_ and they weren't ever going to happen and it was  _fake._ For a moment, Harley felt herself reliving the moments in their life that stood out. She could practically hear his voice, whispering in her ear.  _'C'mon, Harley-Girl. Come to daddy.'_ Enchantress.. She was - offering to give them everything they ever wanted. All Harley wanted right now was her Puddin.  So, sucking in a breath, she slowly took a step forward, hand coming up to shade her eyes from the gleaming light, her eyes stinging. She could feel her comrades eyes staring into her back. She knew she was doing the wrong thing. She shouldn't cave. Give in. Shouldn't have done it.. But - Her.. Her  _Puddin..._

 

"I ain't much of a joiner," she started, glancing to Deadshot who stood at her side, then the rest of the group, "but maybe we should." 

 

It only took a moment for Deadshot to cut his words in, "hey! She's trying to take over the world." "So? What's the world even done for us anyway? It hates us!" Another few steps forward. "Hey! Harley!"

 

She blocked him out, clearing her throat as she approached. "Hey, lady.. Uhm, I lost my Puddin," when she spoke, her voice was cracked, breaking and snapping under the verbal reminder that she was, currently, completely and totally alone in this world. She had no one to run to when she was scared, no one to hold her when she couldn't sleep. She had no one, utterly, completely, no one. She felt tears well in her eyes slowly, looking over the woman carefully. "But you can get him back right?"

 

"I can, my dear. Anything you want.." Her gorgeous, captivating eyes glowed. She had an unearthly appearance. Graceful.  Like an Egyptian Queen. The way she side stepped and almost floated towards her, had Harley convinced that she really could give her anything she wanted. "... You promise?" Not even a heartbeat passed before the deep, elegant voice purred out, "yes, child. You need only bow, and serve beneath my feet.."

 

Well, that sounded simple enough to Harley. One little thing, in return to.. Getting her Puddin back. It was.. It was so worth it. So she closed her eyes tightly, let the image of her and Joker, as.. Normal.. People.. With kids and a nice house float back into her mind, "I like what you're sellin' lady.." She whispered quietly, slowly sinking to her knees before her. "Just make sure I get my Puddin back.." She pleaded, and the Enchantress let out something oddly mixed between a growl and a purr; the noise was so oddly reminiscent of her Joker, that Harley let out a strangled little sob.  Her head dropped, wet hair clinging to her cheeks. Her hands were balled into fists, knuckles driving into her pale, aching thighs. Her small shoulders shook with her violent sobs, her chest tightening by the second. She could see him, she could hear him. And then the memory of the crash, watching his face contort into surprise and anger as she was thrown out and he was thrown back. The plan - the plan was that they would  **jump!** _Just you and me, baby,_ he had said, and then.. Then that horrible thing had to happen, and now Harley was on her knees before a witch who was trying to rule the world and her friends behind her as she sobbed, strangled screams from the physical manifestation of the pain at his loss. It engulfed her, ate her whole and tortured her insides. Harley was crazy as it was, but now with these haunting thoughts, with him not being there to calm her when she got into fits, when she was scared or panicking..  _What was she suppose to do?!_

 

 

The lady rested her hands on her shoulders for a moment. "You needn't cry, child." She cooed, and buckled to one knee herself. "You'll see him soon enough," the words floated into the air around them, but before she knew it, they weren't there anymore.

 

Harley was surrounded in darkness. Her mind was quiet, which she thought was odd. Her eyes fluttered open to the smell of bacon wafting over her, the soft sounds of baby laughs and chuckling. Her eyes squinted at the sun shining in through her window, a quiet groan leaving her lips as she turned over. She stared at him for a moment, surprised and unsure of who she was seeing. He was beautiful, with dark brown locks that were messy around his face, which, by the way, was a healthy peach color and void of tattoos, lips faintly parted. He looked so peaceful; laid on his back with one arm tucked under his head. It didn't seem out of place for her to be there. She sat up slowly, confusion bursting inside her. He was so perfectly normal looking. The name  _Jeremey_ came to mind for some reason. Was that his name? She always imagined that it started with a J. He always joked that it was  _Joe Kerr._ But she never believed him. 

 

She watched him for a moment longer, before she etched herself out of the white silk sheets. Danced herself carefully over to the full length mirror that was sat in the room on a door. She was dressed in one of his shirts; she could just tell. Her hair was long, purely blonde. Her skin was perfectly normal and peachy, like it had been back when she was Harleen, not a tattoo to be seen. On her hand sat a gold little ring.. She assumed that it meant that she was married. Her eyes floated back to where her husband,  _Jeremey_ laid, sleeping soundly. She smiled fondly, exiting their room to come into a hall, trailing down the oddly white walls until she was in the living area, where two little babies were sat in high chairs, a little boy with a hairless head, giggling and slapping his hands against the table part of it,  _Damien._ Next to him a little girl with a head full of hair sat, sucking at her thumb and giggling,  _Clara-Mae..._ She trailed over to the two kids, bending down a little to press a kiss to Damien's head, cooing to him while she reached over to gently remove Clara-Mae's thumb from between her lips, making a funny face consisting of a scrunched nose and a tongue stuck out at her, causing the little girl to squeal, her blue eyes glinting up at her. Harley almost sobbed at the resemblance the smile had to her Jokers. 

 

She drifted off to the kitchen, only to find a man in pajama's with a decent beard cooking eggs and bacon.  _Jonny Frost._ "Morning, Mrs. Kerr." He had offered her as he threw a glance over his shoulder. "J ever getting out of bed today or what?" He asked, a small smile appearing on his lips, playful almost. Harley let herself laugh, the sound startling her. It was so normal, so soft and.. Perfect. "He had a long day at work," she found herself answering without even knowing anything about the previous day they had together, "let the man get some sleep. The kids usually keep him up crying and he wont let me get them most of the time." She sighed and moved to steal a piece of bacon from the plate he had set up. The taste was scrunchy, lighting her taste bud's on fire and waking them up perfectly with the harsh burning that sizzled on her tongue. For a moment, the feeling was not at all pleasurable, and Harley found herself squeezing her eyes shut tightly, flashes of white blurring into what was suppose to be black vision. It was gone in an instant, and Jonny nudged her a little. "Make sure you take your meds, Harley. J wont be pleased if you don't," He reminded her, his voice sounding hushed, not even like his for a moment. She drifted over to the med cabinet, opening it up and staring at her prescriptions.

 

_Zyprexa, Lexapro, Prozac, Naltrexone, Evekeo, Risperdal._

 

Why was there so many? And.. Those weren't just.. Normal medications. Harley found that she couldn't even focus on that, instead she took them down, popped three of each like she did it daily, and put them back in the order she found them. 

 

A second later, J was coming out of his room, sweats hanging low on his hips and hair messy. His hand was combing back through it when he had picked up his daughter, who was throwing a fit for attention, and entered the kitchen. "Morning Jonny," he moved closer to her, one hand reaching out to brush back through her hair, tangling his fingers in it almost possessively, like the remains of the old J were peaking through the cracks, and leaned down to place the sweetest, softest kiss she'd ever witnessed on her forehead. "How'd you sleep, love?" He cooed quietly.

 

Harley couldn't quite grasp it, but she was smiling, beaming, so wide that she was sure her face was about to fall off. How perfect was this? J _eremey_ standing there with one of their babies in his arms, treating her so nicely, so perfectly. "I slept perfectly," she whispered out the reply, leaning in to kiss his lips lightly, before a loud buzzing began to thunder through the house. Crying from the other room echoed to her, her son calling for her. For a moment everything was white, and a red flashing light blinked rapidly at her from above her eyes, and the blaring continued.

 

But then things were fine, and she was cradling her son, fully dressed with J _eremey_ playing peek-a-boo with their daughter, Jonny laughing, the noise embarrassed.

 

" _Just the fire alarm, no worries._ "


	2. Pretty Guys and Pretty Lies

Ah, today was going to be an especially good day. J _erome_ had offered to take her out for dinner, leaving Jonny to take care of the little ones. Harley was more than happy to be able to get out of the house and go to get some food. Jonny was a great guy, but, he didn't, exactly, uh, cook the best things. It all tasted kinda.. Nasty. Like  _hospital food._ C'mon Jonny! Get a cook book, use some spices! Maybe they needed new ingredients for things at home.. She'd suggest to J _erome_ to stop to the store so they could grab some things. Besides, shopping was always fun! 

 

The day dwindled down until it was time to go, J _erome_ holding her hand until they got inside the.. Unnervingly white restaurant. Harley tried to question it mentally, but something was there, blocking her from thinking too in depth about why everything, right down to the chairs were white or a dull grey. Her mind, had brushed it off as the owner simply being a fan of the colors. Personally, Harley was not. She made a mental note to ask J _erome_ to paint the walls of their own home, which, was also extremely, dully, white. 

 

"Why's the house so white - "  _Puddin!_ The word screamed in her mind but she couldn't get herself to call him it, "darling?" She asked furrowing her eyebrows up at him. "Oh," he started, head tilting a little. "I don't really know. I suppose it's just a calming color." White was not calming to Harley. Harley still had vivid memories of padded walls and men dressed in angelic white robes who liked to toss her around and beat her up. "Oh.. I like it."  _Harley loved white._ J _erome_ shot her a smile, lips crinkling back just a bit further than that a normal person would've, nodding his head as he escorted her to a table, pulling out her chair for her. Harley took her seat, sinking into it and he pushed it in. Taking the seat across from her, he started up the little chit chat. 

 

"How did you sleep, Harley?" "Oh, I slept just fine," She cooed to him, a smile on her lips. Her hair done in curls.  _Harley loved curls._ When her plate was set in front of her, she felt herself confused. It was slop. Just  _slop._ Piles of  _nothingness_ disguised as food! Her ears began to ring when she heard the aggressive clattering of plates and the deep voices of men who were barking orders across the restaurant, screams and moans. 

 

She smiled vibrantly at her lover, thanking the waiter as he slipped away. Ironically,  he was dressed in all white too. She picked up the steak knife and the fork, and began to cut into her steak, calming at the gentle chit chat that hummed about the diner, couples giggling and laughing together. Even J _erome_ was laughing handsomely. It was soft, quiet. So.. Utterly.. Normal.

 

But it was mostly quiet between them, at least, until her nose started stinging. Then her lip.

 

"Honey, you're bleeding." 

 

Harley reached up with one hand to touch her nose, fingers pulling back to reveal the deep red that had begun to pour out of her nose and down onto her white dress. "Oh," She mused quietly. "I guess I must find it too hot," she reasoned, and dabbed it with a napkin. But her lip felt uncomfortably big, and when she touched that, she found blood too, and laughed. "Silly me, must've bitten my lip!" She laughed, and J _erome_ laughed with her. But her head, was really starting to hurt. Really, really starting to hurt. In fact, it was pounding so much that Harley was seeing stars, pretty little ones that danced around J _erome's_ head and giggled back at her. She reached up to touch her head with her bloody fingers, and let out a displeased sigh.

 

"Oh darling, I think I've begun to get a headache. Perhaps we should head home early," She suggested, and he nodded in return. Silently standing and moving over to her, helping her to her feet.

 

But as soon as Harley stood, a sharp pain hit her in the stomach, then the ribs, and she could suddenly hear maniac laughter, followed by booming yells to get someone.. Someone...  _Inmate.._ Under control. Then she was staring at her J _erome_ again. "Cramps, just cramps, a nice hot bath will work wonders," She assured him, when he greeted her with a worried look. She couldn't remember the drive home, but J _erome_ had disappeared as soon as she was in the door. Probably gone to calm the crying kids, she assumed, while Jonny took her arm in one hand and held her around the waist with the other, leading her to the bathroom. He even brought her a towel and a new set of..  _White white white_ clothes. Left her to her bath. Standing in the mirror, Harley observed a huge, black bruise that took up over half her belly, the cuts that seared deep into her sides and on her chest. Her nose was kinda crooked, a deep bruise going across the bridge and under both her eyes. "Gosh, I'm such a clutz!" She laughed to herself, shaking her head at her reflection.  _Something was not right._ She turned around, humming out a happy little tune as she sunk into the bath. The water was  _cold. Freezing, freezing cold._ She sunk further into it, sighing out a relaxing little noise as she sunk into the delightfully warm water, just as she asked Jonny to prepare it for her. How wonderful! What a good man he was, good good good! She soaked for  _minutes_ when a strong pain ripped her from her daze. Large hands had balled their way into her wet hair and ripped her out of the tub. Harley let out a strangled cry as her hip knocked violently against the tub before she was thrown down on to the ground.

 

A few hours after soaking, she had gotten out of the tub and dried herself off, brushing off the blossoming bruise in her hip, sweeping it under the carpet as she was just  _clumsy._ She dressed and did her hair properly, sliding out of the bathroom. No one was home this time, just her and the kids. Harley had taken Damien in her arms, Clara-Mae in her chair playing with something childlike and white, when she heard a knock on the door.  _It sounded like someone had just opened a gate._ A gorgeous women with perfect skin walked in, dark hair straight down her back with the prettiest green eyes she'd ever seen.  _"Florence!"_ She called happily, moving over to pull her into a one armed hug. The lady was, after all, holding a pretty little flower in the other arm and Harley had, her pretty little flower in her arm! One armed hugs were nice. 

 

"Hello, Harley," Florence bubbled back happily, taking a seat across from Clara-Mae, cooing at her from where she sat. Harley flittered across to sit Damien down as well and began to work on her coffee.  _Back up,_ a hissed voice had entered for a moment, but Harley paid no mind as, at the same time, Florence politely reminded her to be careful not to burn herself. "Oh, oh yes of course, thank you, Florence." She cooed and moved to take a seat.

 

"So hows J _erome?_ " Florence asked sweetly, head rested in the palm of her hand while her other played with the little girls hand; finger gripped tight by Clara-Mae. "Oh, he's fantastic. He's at work right now, I think Jonny had the day off, I haven't seen him since my bath." She mused quietly, thoughtfully and tapped her fingers. "What are all those bruises about? What's been goin on, Harls?" Florence asked, oddly out of character. Harley blinked, and tilted her head. "Ain't nothin been going on. I'm just a clutz! Clumsy, clumsy Harley!" She laughed, tapping her hand on the table.

 

"I really don't think that's whats been going on," Florence started, Harley frowned when there was a shift in her appearance, green skin winking at her. "Are these guys beating you up? They been hurting you?" Harley blinked again, furrowing her eyebrows. "And what about that scene in the cafeteria today?" She cooed and Harley shook her head. "Florence, I ain't got a clue what you're talkin bout!" She laughed, and things returned to normal. Peachy skin and Florence was back into her character. Things were  _Normal._ Normal was good.  _Normal was not right._

 

Though, unfortunately, Florence's stay was cut short when there was a knock to the door, and in waltzed her, not so friend,  _Pammy._ Pammy was mean to her. "Excuse me, Florence, but you're going to have to excuse me and Mrs. Kerr, we have a chat to have." Pammy said in a snappy, rude tone, and Florence left without question. 

 

Pammy took a seat across from her, hands rested on the table. Suddenly, the babies were gone; J _erome_ had taken them to go play while she spoke with Pammy! Yes, yes of course. Nothing out of place about that.

 

"How's your day been going?" Pammy asked. Harley frowned at her. 'It's been fine." She huffed back in return, arms crossing beneath her chest. "Now now, Harley, theres no need for you to be taking up an attitude with me." Pammy hissed, and Harley found herself flinching away. "I don't want to talk to you," Harley whimpered quietly, shrinking into her chair, but it seemed to mean nothing to Pammy as she pushed again. "I need  _answers_ Harley.  _Responses_ or I'm going to have to do something _very very bad."_ Harley didn't want to know what the really, really bad thing was. Pammy slammed her hands on the table, and had stood. Her chair made an awkward screeching noise when she did, and Harley pressed further back into her chair, as Pammy came closer, yelling and screaming but Harley couldn't hear what she was saying, her hands raising over her ears as she let out muffled little cries. "I don't like you!"

 

"Pam! What on earth are you doing?" A deep voice resonated behind her and Harley was instantly calm. She turned to see a tall man with a very nice jaw.  _B.... Brock._ Brock was nice. Brock was always nice. "If she doesn't want to talk she doesn't have to, leave her alone," He sighed as he approached, placing a hand on Harley's shoulder and she relaxed happily, giving Pammy a look that screamed  _bitch._ The women returned it with such ferocity, but said nothing as she stormed out. 

 

"Is something troubling you?" Brock asked as he sat across from her. "I just miss my Jo.. J _ack._ I just miss my J _ack,"_ She answered softly, and Brock nodded.

 

 

Later, Harley couldn't remember what happened, but as she fell asleep, she swore she heard someone whisper,  _just fake her death, the clown will never know she's here. No one will._


	3. Fantastic Beast and Where To Find Them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little note that Nova is an original character belonging to my boyfriend, alinova. He's currently writing two suicide squad related stories, one being all about Nova. Make sure to give them a look; his writing is phenomenal.

Where was she? Where was she where was she where was she.  _ **Where. Was. She?**_ The words echoed throughout Joker's mind constantly, had him reeling and focused on the task at hand at all times - finding his Harley Quinn. Ever since Batsy had taken her from the water that night, she'd been missing.. And Joker had thought he found her. He had been  ** _so_** close to finding her. So close, in fact, that he had literally held her in his arm's, even if only for a moment. But now she was gone again, and J knew she was safe, he had a  _feeling_ and he wasn't sure what that feeling  _was,_ almost nothing but it was  _something_ and something was  _never_ nothing. It was a feeling and his feelings were almost always  _right_ so that just meant that his Harley was alive. Besides, she'd gotten on that roof, like the two of them were  _suppose_ to, and it would've worked out that way if the damn craft didn't have to have that moment of turbulence which separated them. Joker had even gone as far as to go back to that damn hell hole that they had his Harley previously locked up in, whatever the name was, J couldn't be bothered with remembering it. It was unimportant, irrelevant,  _useless._ And when he had gotten there, expecting to barge in and take his gal into his arms, it had proven to be exactly that -  _useless._ She wasn't there. She wasn't  _anywhere_ and Joker knew that for a fact. He'd spent the past month searching the damn city, the state, the country, upside down and inside out, trying to find her and he couldn't even find so much as a.. A  _hint_ of her existence. Which of course left the angry homicidal Clown Prince of Chaos doing what he did best - causing  _chaos_ in the way of looking for Harley. He was back in Gotham, finally, and his line of  _chaos and murder_ had brought us to this moment - a square off with none other then the bat  _freak_ himself who was the sole reason he didn't have his  _HARLEY._

 

Joker stood in front of him, torso bloody, bare. He was wearing nothing but his Arkham sweats - something Harley had demanded he keep. Something about memories or something nonsensical like she usually blabbered about. His hands were adorned with bloody purple leather, dark, sunken in eyes watching the Bat himself as he stood across from him. The man himself looked worn down, almost empty. He looked like he had seen a ghost, like he'd heard the worse news of his life. Joker recognized that face. That was the face the cops used on the families of his victims time and time again when they had to tell them that their loved ones had been  _brutally murdered at the hands of a mentally ill man._ Batman, probably needed a break from his night job. "So what is it, Batsy? What's got you buggin me this time round? A little murder's never caught your eye before." His voice was deep but high all at once, that dark tone laced around each letter he spoke, head bouncing idly side to side. 

 

"Why are you doing all this, Joker?" Batman shot back in return, his face hardening for a moment but he couldn't quite keep it in that manner. He knew why he was doing this, and while, Batman would never,  _ever_ want to help Joker, or want to reunite him with Harley, because he wasn't good for her. Joker always treated that girl  _horribly._ Threw off the tops of buildings and left her in the water to die when she couldn't swim. Part of Batman knew the only reason he actually did it was because he knew each time  _he_ would save her. She'd never get hurt too bad. But he couldn't help but admit to himself that, as twisted and dark and  _unhealthy_ their relationship was, the two loved each other, dearly. Joker was an  _ill man,_ he didn't know how to properly express that love, and Harley was an equally if not more  _ill women,_ she loved to take the blows as long as he kept taking her back. The two were terribly meant for each other, and all hell was raised when they were parted. Perhaps that's why he typically tried to get them into Arkham at the same times - for one it meant it was less likely for the other to spring them free, but it also meant neither of them would be tearing Gotham apart in the wait to get their love back. And, that was exactly what Joker was doing. Tearing apart the city looking for her, but oh.. He wasn't going to find her.. Part of that hurt to know.

 

"Ohhhhhh Batsy batsy BATSY..." Joker crooned, head tilting awkwardly to the side. "You  _know_ why I'm doin all this.. Gotta kill people high up to get the answers. See something of mine seems to have been  _stolen_ and I don't take too kindly to my property being  _stolen_ Batman.. You wouldn't happen to know.. Uh... Where she is, now would you?" He snarled. His lips pulled back over his teeth in a nasty snarl. It was easy to tell J hadn't slept in the last while. His eyes were terribly sunk in, Batman was sure the black around them were natural at this point instead of make up. He was more demented, darker, tormented. Joker hadn't so much as laid his head down since he discovered that they'd lost his right hand gal. Partner in crime. His  _Queen.._ "Tell me, Bats, how does one misplace a  _Queen_ like her? She ain't easy to lose track of.." 

 

Batman pulled a breath in through his nose, holding it in until his chest grew tight, letting Joker ramble and rant on and on and  _on_ about his reasoning. "I know where she  _was._ " He said simply; J's eyes flying to him in anger and in question, obviously beyond annoyed by the fact that the information was being withheld even if only for a moment. He wanted to know where she was - now. "She was being kept in maximum security in Arkham Asylum being treated for her previous disorders on top of  _depression, hallucination's, and pain._ Unfortunately though she's no longer there.." 

 

The moment he said it he knew he had given him the wrong impression..

 

"So shes there then!" Joker beamed, hands clasping together. "Perfect perfect perfect. I'll just get her out then, thanks, bman. She'll really appreciate that, and I wont forget it." He'd been about to turn when Bats had grabbed his arm, tight grip holding him in place. Joker did  _not_ take kindly to that, turning with a deathly snarl rippling across his features, eye twitching as they fell to look at where he had him held.

 

"You're not hearing me, clown. She's not there anymore. She's gone.. She's.. Dead. Gone. Deceased. There was an incident at the Asylum and.. She didn't make it." He tried to explain as short and simple as he could, knowing the backlash from Joker was going to be magnificent. But Joker just stared at him, before that laugh began to slowly creep it's way past his lips, wrapping around Bats until he felt like he'd go insane just from the noise.

 

_Ha. Ha. **Ha.**_

 

"Very funny, Bman." He laughed, slapping the caped freak on the arm roughly. It was a surprisingly civil interaction between the two, which did put him off a little and make him wonder if something was wrong, but judging by the look on Batman's face.. He wasn't joking about Harley.

 

He felt himself freeze. Completely seize up in under his grip, his eyes staring blankly, empty back at Bats. Joker was sure that he felt his heart stop in that moment, felt like he was about to vomit. Harley was dead. But she couldn't be, he was her  _master_ her  _owner_ and he would feel something like that. He'd feel her lack of presence on his world and he would feel so terribly  _cold._

 

It occurred to him that he'd been so busy working, so busy trying to find her that he hadn't had time to stop and actually let his emotions and thoughts register on his body properly, and now he had. He'd completely stopped all movement, which was something he hadn't done since he had been with her last.. Joker felt  _cold_ and he didn't like it. He felt  _empty_ and  _lost_ like he didn't know where he was suppose to go next or what he was suppose to do. The entire world lit on fire and slowly began to disintegrate before his very eyes, he felt his lip quiver, felt his breath hitch and get stuck in his throat. Suddenly he felt like he had been put in ten straight jackets, a never ending amount of straight jackets suffocating him into submission, into sanity, but he wasn't becoming sane, if anything it was getting worse and worse, and he didn't know what  he was suppose to do other than to shake batman off of him, stumble backwards a few feet, and collapse. Jonny had been the only one with him, standing idly by the door, inching closer slowly as he watched the boss fall to pieces at the one death that he actually couldn't handle. Flashes of her flickered before his eyes, words that he couldn't grasp that she said so often. Why hadn't he listened to her more often? Why didn't he listen? He could remember her voice. He could remember the sound, the  _annoyingly soothing sound,_ but he could not remember a damn thing that she had said. None of the little nonsensical things that, usually, annoyed him, but right now he was yearning to remember. He stared blankly ahead of him, until he felt rage boil underneath his alabaster skin at a revelation. Not only was his Harley  _dead_ but someone had  _murdered her._ Someone had disrespected her so.. Violently, that she had actually  _died._ And that was by no means an easy feat! Harley was not an easy person to take out. She was fire and a storm and she was a personalized weapon who could snap a mans neck with nothing but her damn  _thighs_ and yet someone had done something so.. So  _terrible_ that she had  _died.._ Justice had to be served. His head fell back then, a loud snarl ripping it's way out of his chest, wrapped around her name and echoing out into the streets, followed by his war cry.  _HA. HA. HA. HA. HA. **HA. HA. HA. HA. HA.**_

 

When his fit was done, Batman was gone.

 

Harley had spent weeks, weeks upon weeks and months with her lovely lovely J _ack._ Lots of days were fun, but lot's days were  _boring._ Harley didn't know half of what was going on at this point, she was covered in bruises and cuts constantly, her bones ached, all because she couldn't stop getting herself hurt! She'd even broken her own nose doing.. Something... But Jonny had told her it was healed now. She'd fractured her wrist, but that was also healed now, and a few of her ribs got cracked, but they were fine, she'd also somehow managed to burn her temples. But those didn't hurt too much either. Her babies were growing too fast, Damien had little brown strands of hair beginning to appear on his head and Clara-Mae was crawling perfectly, Harley knew in no time they'd be walking and talking, especially with how much they both babbled endlessly to each other and to everyone else. Florence especially loved to listen to the babies babble, would hold real conversations with them too! Even if Harley knew that Florence lead the conversation in whatever direction she pleased, it was still a sweet thought that her beloved neighbor and best friend was happy chit-chatting with her babies. 

 

But things still never really felt right. Things felt off a lot of the time. Especially when Florence kept insisting that her name was  _Nova_ and that they'd get her outta there as soon as they could. Silly Florence! Maybe she needed to go to  _Arkham Asylum._ She didn't seem all there.

 

In the real world, or at least, this current real world, Joker was just slaughtering people upon people. Batman never showed up, or if he did it was always too late, but he guessed it didn't matter as it was always little murders. A few people in the street. A goon. A neighbor. Anyone who looked at Joker wrong, really. Not many people did that after the news of Harley Quinn's death had surfaced. It seemed important to note that several women in the criminal world had come looking to get in on what Harley had fell out of, but J was a one woman kinda fella, and that one women, was no more.

 

Or so he thought, anyway.

 

He'd gone to a restaurant to rob it, get some stress off his chest. It frustrated him how much he seemed to need Harley. He had gone an entire life time without her and then seven years with the women and now he couldn't even kill a man without missing her! But yet, here he was, about to murder the manager of  _Gotham Cafe._ Or at least, that's what J had stuck on it. The man, Jonny said, was  _Jerome Richards,_ a brother to a doctor who worked at the Asylum by the name of  _Jeremey Richards,_ and it at first, didn't mean anything to Joker until the pathetic flea had actually brought up something interesting.

 

"She ain't dead," He said desperately. "Your girl, she ain't dead, I swear ya, she ain't." He cried, blood running from his mouth and tears from his cheeks. J couldn't help but think he looked terribly pathetic. But, he had something interesting to say, and at this point, Joker would believe a sewer rat if it started spewing about Harley being alive somewhere.

 

"What do you  _know?_ " Joker growled as he slammed his hands down on the arms of the chair at either side of him, eyes like daggers as he glared into the mans soul.

 

"My brother he uh, he works at the Asylum.. He's one of her docs. Says they've been keepin her underground after a fight in the cafeteria. He said that shes so doped out of it she keeps blabbering about babies and this guy jonny and a normal life and they're uh. They thought they could cover her up as a dead person and use her for a beating bag or uhm.. A test subject.."

 

"Like a  _rat?_ " J spat, anger pressing into his vision. Joker hardly ever saw red unless it was blood - but right now, he was seeing red, and it wasn't Jerome's blood. "They dare treat her like a  _rat?!_ " He yelled, slamming his hands again. And, while he was thankful for the information, Joker had to do something that would draw enough attention that would get him captured, brought to Arkham. He needed to find her for himself, so he gripped the lamp off of the desk that was next to them, and started to violently smash it into Jeromes skull, vicious screams leaving his lips as he did. Joker couldn't even find it in him to laugh, to angry, feeling too betrayed, too.. Disrespected.

 

He had the goons tear apart the entire neighborhood until Batman had shown up, which Joker had given himself up with no fight, and let himself to be taken to Arkham. 

 

Nova was never one to try to.. Protect people. At least, not anymore. In fact usually people were trying to protect people, from Nova. And while Ivy sort of frowned upon it, she kept using her little gifts to seduce the guards so she could take care of Harley. The girl looked like a shell of a human being, and it was pitiful. Most day's, the sight of her made her want to cry. Every time that she saw her, Harley had a new bruise, a new cut. New set of stitches, messily done because they said she was pretty much dead anyway.  _Who cares._ But she  _did_ care, as Harley was one of the few who had always shown her kindness, from the moment she'd been dragged into this crime filled world, to the moment Harley stopped being..  _Harley..._ So she cared. She cared that they beat on her day in and day out, but she couldn't do anything about it. Every time she came in to see Harley laying in a puddle of her own blood, white dress more red then white, she couldn't help but wonder where Joker was. What was taking him so long to find her, to rescue her, get her out and take her far, far away from where these people could abuse her in the way that they were. God knows what other torturous things they were doing to her that couldn't be seen..

 

She sat in the cafeteria across from her creator, her lover, Ivy. She was sipping idly on some sort of milk, and Nova was fiddling with a pen. "So hows the little flower today?" Ivy had purred quietly in that goddess like tone from across the table. They'd been especially well behaved that the guards were letting them among other inmates, but of course that was all apart of some sort of plan. The Arkham workers weren't very smart.

 

"Battered," she mumbled quietly, "poor girl can't even stand on her own.. Keeps calling me  _Florence_ and going on about tea or babies. She's not.. Right, Ivy. She ain't right.. It isn't right what they're doing to her, keeping her locked up down there and treating her like a punching bag for when the guards get stressed." She whispered, the compassion she had for the girl leaking out into her words.

 

While Ivy didn't like Joker, she did like Harley. The girl was a little slow sometimes and was never really ever going to compare to someone like herself, Ivy liked to think that they were friends on some level, and she did, to an extent, care about the girls well being. The idea that these  _grimey men_ were putting their nasty, sweaty  _paws_ all over her? It sickened her. Made her physically sick to her stomach, but they couldn't do anything about it yet, no matter how much Nova begged and pleaded for them to. "They'll get their karma one day, little one." She had cooed back, an attempt to soothe her anxious little dewdrop. 

 

As if on cue, as if those words were calling the universe to actually bring Karma right into their laps, Nova had looked up to see none other than Joker himself, striding pridefully yet angrily into the cafeteria. It was odd to see him there - but they always let him there until he did something wrong. It seemed that he spotted them just as quick, because he had shoved off his guards and began taking long strides towards them, until he reached them at last.

 

"I don't suppose you two sprouts have seen my Harley-Girl lying around here anywhere, have ya?" He purred, attempting to be nice, attempting to be  _sweet_ with them because he knew that Ivy hated his guts with such a passion that if looks could kill  _oh he'd be dead._ But he supposed that was his own fault with all the times that he had actually pranked her and/or did her wrong. He deserved her hate. But it wasn't going to get him any sort of help, so he had to try not to poke the beast.

 

"Actually - " Nova started quickly, but Ivy was quick to cut her off, knowing that Joker was most definitely in a weakened state without her. Without knowing her wellbeing or where she was. "No," Ivy replied simply, head tilting slightly. "Can't say we have. As you can see she's not in this cafeteria and it's the only place besides for therapy that we're allowed to be." She slid the reply back with some sense of fake sincerity, and she knew that part of Joker had picked up on it too. She noted Nova's despair, but brushed it off.

 

Joker was washed with a wave of disappointment, giving it up to that and leaving. He knew they had a point. 

 

Harley was dancing about with her J _ack_ when she had felt the sudden pain in her back, and had been pushed into him. Flashes of red mixing into white padded walls hit her and the sight of a burly man with a knife looming over her in a white coat had hit her like a brick wall. All she could do was scream.

 

"Harley, baby, are you okay? Looks like you fell on some glass, clumsy girl." Ja _ck_ had cooed, caressing her arms gently. "Silly me," she whispered brokenly back.

 

But Nova had been on her way to see her when she heard the scream. While she  _wanted_ to help her, she knew it was best that she go find Joker, tell  _him._ So thats what she did, running down halls and weaving around corners, flirting with guards until she was able to wrap her hands firmly around the bars of the door that they had him sealed behind. "It's time to call your men in, contact your contacts, get yourself a gun and tear this place apart," she whispered in a hushed tone, Joker sat in the center of his room, rocking back and forth, arms hugging his torso tightly. "Harley's here." She said finally, which seemed to pique his interest, for he stood quickly and was in front of the door looking like a madman in seconds. "Where.. Is.. She..." He growled out slowly, and Nova simply gave him a sad smile. "She's being kept underground.." "Can ya get me that guards uh... Cell phone, sprout?"

 

He didn't need to ask her twice. Nova gave him a look, which he returned and she turned to face the guard, slipped over to him and made some flirty banter, hand resting on his chest as she leaned in close to him. She'd been gathering enough sunlight in the cafeteria that she was a bit stronger than she had been before, that was the plan to break out after all, but she decided, this was the break out. It was time. A vine had slithered out from her arm, up across the guards chest without him even noticing as she promised him little.. Deeds.. Favors.. By the time he noticed, it was too late, as the vine had wrapped around his throat and was starting to choke him. Nova had grabbed the cell off his waist, and when he reached for his gun, she let out a cry and threw him down the hall like he was a pillow.

 

She slid the phone back to J when she was done, and skittered off like she'd never been there in the first place.

 

"Oh Jonny.. Bring the boys. She's here."


	4. Not All Heros Wear Capes

Harley was giggling beneath J _ack._ His hands roaming over her bare thighs, lips pressing little kisses up over her purple skin. Harley barely noticed the pain under his touch, barely. He was letting out these little hums, noises that sounded more animal than human, but Harley paid no mind to it, giggling and running her hands back through his dark hair. For a moment, their love making had been interrupted, she paused at the sudden explosions and sounds that sounded like guns and screams echoing through the room. Her worries had been put to rest when J _ack_ sat up and whispered softly, "theres construction across the road."

 

Arkham was alive with chaos, and I'm sure you could guess who was dab smack in the middle of it all, laughing in all the glory as he swung a machine gun back and forth with little care of who got caught in the crossfire, muscles straining in his arms and eyes shut in delight. Inmates had been paid off to act as goons, and promised freedom, but naturally of course J planned on killing most of them in the process of escaping. Arkham's inmates were strong fellas, but they weren't reliable. But none of them  _knew_ this, and was exceptionally happy bouncing off the walls taking down anyone and everyone opposing J trying to find his girl; Ivy was livid. Beautiful vines strangling themselves around her lovers arms, lips tugged back in a violent snarl as she glared daggers down at her. Ivy  _knew_ it had been Nova who tipped J off about Harley's being at the Asylum, which meant she had gone against her orders of not telling him. Of course Ivy  _understood_ the predicament - Harley was a good friend of her little dewdrop, and in any other circumstance, Ivy likely would've marched down there herself and tore those men's grubby hands off of her, as she too respected and cared for the currently, seemingly delicate little flower. And in fact, she had planned to - until she saw the fragile state that it had put Joker in. Anyone who knew anything about the self pro-claimed King and Queen of Gotham was that when they apart it meant two things; they would grow violent, like a ticking time bomb. So much as look at them, and you were signing a death wish. Naturally people assume that Joker is worse in this situation but it is more applied to Harley, who once killed the vice president of Gotham in an attempt to send a message that she wasn't to be messed with. The  _second_ known fact, is that.. Well, they're both highly fragile without the other. More than a weeks worth of separation made their decisions clouded and made them desperate. They would do anything and turn to anyone to retrieve the other. Ivy had a  _plan_ and her precious,  _deviant_ little  _cactus_ had gone and ruined it! They could've had  _THE JOKER_ writhing and doing everything they wanted, they could've had him  _VULNERABLE AND CAPABLE OF BEING BROUGHT DOWN OFF THAT SELF CLAIMED THRONE OF HIS._ But no. Nova was weak. She was  _incapable_ of putting Harley through that torture.

 

A true Goddess like herself, should be capable, of risking mortal lives at the sake of being in the spotlight.

 

"What on  ** _EARTH WERE YOU THINKING!?_** " Ivy's voice roared out over the chaos that echoed its way down the halls. In her fit of rage the vines had spread from her body, curling up over the stone walls and claiming it as their own; mother nature was currently taking back what had once rightfully been hers. "I had a  _PLAN_ Nova! Your incapability to let that girl  ** _SUFFER_** is your flaw! You need to be ready to let anyone and everyone take a hit for the team, Nova!" She screeched.

 

Nova found herself growing kind of uneasy. She hadn't seen Ivy this mad in ages, and while she knew that Ivy was going to be mad about it, she knew that she would get a lecture, but she couldn't let Harley continue to be beaten and battered the way she had been, she also didn't think she would be  _this_ mad. What was so important about getting Joker under their thumb? Joker was, after all, in some twisted mannerism, their  _friend._ Getting on his  _good side_ was always much more beneficial then on his bad, and if they had helped him find Harley, had saved her for him, then that would mean automatically that his sense of pride and respect would make him  _owe_ them. He would always feel the need to treat them well  _well except for maybe Ivy but she could understand that._ And  _besides...._ God only knows what would be done to them if he found out that they knew where she was all along and  _lied_ to him about it,  _especially_ with the state she was in.

 

"I'm sorry, Pear." She pleaded quietly, her eyes never dropping to the plants that were curling closer and closer to her neck. "You didn't see her. You didn't hear her screams I - I would've waited, really, I woulda, but Ivy.. I don't know what they were doing to her I think they were gonna kill her I had to do something." She said quietly, staring up at her Goddess with, sad eyes that told her story, she spoke the truth and only the truth. At first she was willing to wait, thinking that the guards wouldn't be as recklessly stupid as to harass the one and only Harley Quinn while her lover and well known lover of torture was merely feet above them.. But they  _were_ that stupid and then she was  _screaming_ like someone was doing the  _unthinkable_ to her and Nova... 

 

Nova had a heart.

 

"That's not the point!" Ivy screeched, the vines wrapping threateningly around the girls throat. They lifted her off the ground, Nova kicking slightly as her hands wrapped around the vine in return, her eyes staring wide eyed down at Ivy as she lifted her higher and higher.

 

_BANG._

 

Ivy released a high pitched howl as bullets shot through the vine hand wrapped around Nova's neck, causing her to recoil instantly. Her head snapped to the side, to see a completely unhinged, blood splattered J. His chest rose and fell with the heavy breaths that were coursing through him. Anger vibrated around his being, it seemed he still had trouble finding Harley, and he'd likely come looking for Nova to lead the way. Nova had since collapsed to the floor, regathering herself as she stood and the two women faced him. Part of Nova burned with anger that he had injured the plant  _and_ Ivy but another was thankful for the help. She remained quiet on both things.

 

"Now now  _now_ broccoli skin," he snarled at Ivy, his head tilting and turning back and upwards, showing off his neck and the veins that strained at the actions. "Ya can't just go around.. killin pretty little things that are gonna help  _me_ get my  _pretty little thing back._ "

 

The chaos had, by all means, of course, had drawn the attention of Batman himself. A dreaded feeling was set in his stomach when he had heard news that Joker had escaped and gone into full blown chaos mode. Something in him screamed that he was out for blood - and not just  _any_ blood.. Oh no, he'd find and torture anyone and everyone involved in Harley's death. Deciding that he couldn't get in through the main entrance, and that it would be easiest to work himself from the underground up, he'd gone in through the back entrance, slipped through the halls until he had come across an open cell. Peculiar, he hadn't thought that Joker had gotten down that far yet. 

 

The sloshing of water was what was really strange - his first thought was that an inmate or something was drowning a guard. He had entered the cell, the first sight being the puddle of blood that sat in the middle of the cell, the splatters on the wall. The scratchings of  _JOE...KERR..._ on the walls with bloodied prints left behind. Must've been Harley's cell, he reasoned. But why so much blood? His eyes snapped tot he tub that sat in the corner of the room. Usually these cells were for the too high risk or the catatonics who couldn't be moved. Hovering over the tub was a guard with a red face, pale legs and arms flailing and pushing at his face in an attempt to get the grip off her throat. Bat could barely comprehend what was happening. The guard was in the process.. Of  _drowning_ Harley Quinn.. Something in him had snapped a little; not at all liking the sight. Besides, the girl probably couldn't even help herself. He quickly went over, one hand curling into the greasy black locks of the mans hair, the other in the shirt, yanking him viciously away from the tub and throwing him across the room. He quickly moved to carefully scoop Harley out of the tub, sitting her next to the wall, letting her cough the water out while he turned to the guard. His body moved in swift steps, grabbing him up by his hair again and throwing him this time out of the cell, and into the wall, a sickening crack happening in the process. Guess he broke his nose. Bats didn't care. He turned his head then, and finally noticed the state she was in.

 

Harley was crumpled onto the ground, body only covered by the white cloth that had stuck to her skin and gone fairly seethrough, revealing the dark bruises on her sides and her stomach. Cuts covered her arms and her legs, one on her shoulder that was hastily stitched up by what looked like an amateur. There were some similar around her neck, on her face, her eyes ringed with bruises and her lip busted, and now, to match, she had blossoming bruises around her throat where the guy had been drowning her. She just stared at him, eyes blank, blue lips parted.

 

"Oh hey Batty.. Didn't know we.. Had a.. meeting.. Arranged.." She croaked, her voice barely usable. Batman felt himself crumble. He had told Joker that the girl was dead. That she was well, in a better place pretty much, and all along..  _All along_ she'd been here, being tortured by these  _creeps._ The fact that she was being so poorly treated made him want to vomit. Bats had seen some.. Some pretty dark shit in his life, but he'd hardly ever felt this sick. Harley was usually a happy girl, full of energy and bouncing around. And now here she was, nothing but skin and bones and covered in wounds, probably malnourished and dehydrated.. He felt his heart break a little.

 

"Harley.. Are you okay?" He asked slowly as he approached her, taking the cape off of his suit slowly to wrap it around her. 

 

She shook at the contact, unknowingly wincing away from him. "I'm okay, I've been good. Just a little sore, I dunno whats wrong with me but I've been uh.. Pretty clumsy lately.. And uh.. Yeah.. It kinda hurts.. And Joe's been at work..." she whispered. Confusion plowing Batman down at the way she spoke to him. He was so confused as to what was happening, and she was just staring at him with those glazed over, broken eyes.

 

"Whose Joe?"

 

"My.. Joe... Kerr..."

 

Joker.. Of course. As wrong as it was, Batman knew the solution to what was happening wasn't to put them back in Arkham. Obviously  _Bruce Wayne_ needed to do something to clean the place up, and Joker obviously was going to be unhinged and chaotic until Harley was safe with him, and Harley.. Harley needed to be far,  _far, far,_ away from here.

 

"I'll take you to him.." He reasoned quietly. He knew it was something that the public eye would frown upon, but it would mean no more people would die. At least, no more of the ones who didn't do this to her, and she would be safe. For some reason, all he wanted, was her to be  _safe._

 

So he scooped her up, wrapped up in his cape, and began his decent into the chaos. As he got to the top level of the floor, the only thing that could be heard over the gunfire and screams, was Jokers unhinged laughter.

 

_**HA...HA....HA....HA....HA....HA..HA.HA.HA.HA.HA.HA.HA.HA.HA.** _

 

Harley really had just been thinking that she was having a nice little chitchat with her favorite Brock! But, suddenly the echoing sound of some.. Terrifying laughter had slipped into her ears, then the sound of gunshots and screaming. Harley felt herself panicking. There was smoke surrounding her, Brock was wearing a mask for some godly reason, and the fire alarm was blaring in her ears. She began to cough, eyes tearing away and tearing up. "My babies!" She cried, writhing in her spot, trying to run to the living room to get her children, so that they could get out of there, so she could save them, but she couldn't move from her seat. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as violent sobs shook her body. "Brock, you gotta save them! Save my babies!" She cried, begging as she slammed her hand on the table. It was the only thing she could do. But the fire had already consumed the living room, the screams and cries of her babies turning into the screams and cries of other people. Harley gripped her head and began to cry uncontrollably. Her babies were dead.

 

Batman didn't understand. He didn't get where the begging for her babies lives to be saved came from. He didn't know who Brock was, or why she was writhing in his arms, but he held her all the same. Harley's fantasy deteriorating and the pain from all her wounds, from the lost of her babies hit her like a truck. She looked up at Batman, confused, but instead of questioning him, she just turned her head into his suited chest, and began to cry again. Just let the tears flow until she could finally hear his laugh. Hear  _him_ in his favorite state. A state of unhinged  _chaos_ that meant lots of people, were going to die. And while the thought mildly cheered her up, she continued to shake and sob, mourning the death of her two children. Even if they weren't physically a real thing.

 

Batman had to swallow back his own urge to cry for her.

 

When he found Joker, he had Nova  _and_ Ivy in toll, beating on some Doctor by the name of  _Doctor Richard._ Doctor Richard was very obviously not alive. Joker was stamping aggressively on the mush that  _was_ his head. Hair flying out of place, eyes unnervingly wide, lips ripped back in vicious laughter. He only stopped when Nova had grabbed his arm. 

 

Joker's ears were finely tuned to recognize the sound of his Harley's distress from a mile away, and it was the only thing that he could hear right now. The soft broken sobs that she was letting creak into the air. His head shot up from the mashed head beneath him, landing on Batman, who walked slowly, like he was carrying a dead infant. Joker had seen it before. He felt his heart tighten unnaturally in his chest as his eyes landed on the little fragile girl wrapped up in the black cape. First anger hit him, eyes landing back on bats face, the instant thought that he had done it to her hitting him like a train. "You did that, didn't you, batsy? To get back at me?" He growled, but Bats just shook his head, silent as he stood before him with the crying girl in his arms. That's when it hit him. No.. No  _of course_ Batman wouldn't do that to his Harley.. Batsy was capable of a lot of things but one thing he had never done, was  _injure_ Harley that badly..

 

He tilted his head and strained it at awkward angles as he reached for her brokenly. Batman set the girl into his arms, kept her wrapped tight in his cape so Joker wouldn't see the extent of the injuries while he was there. Harley's violent sobs had calmed at the contact, now just creaking little whimpers and hot tears. Joker felt his entire body yearn for her happiness, cradling her into his chest in an attempt at being nurturing. "Don't worry, baby girl, daddy's got ya now.. Ain't nobody.. Ain't nobody gonna hurt ya no more.. Ya hear me?" He whispered sweetly down at her, and Harley just cried back in response. Behind him, even Ivy felt her planted heart break, having to go wrap herself possessively around Nova, knowing that if anyone had ever injured  _her dewdrop_ like that, then.. She would surely burn the city to the ground in response. Nova was crying quietly herself now, her heart hurting because she  _knew.._ She  _knew_ the extent of poor Harley's injuries, and she  _knew_ the mental torture that she must be going through.

 

"Leave," Batman said quietly. "Take her and leave. Get her out of this place and for gods sake, Joker, don't let her come back any time soon.." He had urged, before he had paused to give her one last look. "Keep the cape." And with that, he was gone to put a stop to the rest of the chaos.

 

Joker had just brokenly left with his Harley, Nova and Ivy helping them get back home.. And oh- when they were home...

 

Joker swore he'd never let another person touch her ever again. 


End file.
